“Can you feel the gift inside you now?” Nicci asked.
Nathan hesitated. “Maybe … I’m not certain. As I’m sure you understand, I’m afraid to try. How can I take the risk? I don’t even want to practice. What if I try to create a simple hand light—and instead I unleash a huge forest fire? Those village children who asked to see a little trick … I could have killed them all. Magic that I can’t control is worse than no magic at all.”
Nicci said, “That depends upon the circumstances. If we are being pursued by an army of monster warriors, even an uncontrolled forest fire might prove useful.”
As usual, Bannon tried to inspire them with his cheer. “Obviously, our best solution is to find Kol Adair as soon as we can. Then we will have our wizard back.”
“Yes, my boy,” Nathan said. “A perfectly simple solution.” He set off down the road at a brisk pace.
*
Three days later, while passing through wooded hills with few signs of habitation, they came upon a wide imperial road that cut straight through the uneven terrain, then down into a broad valley. The road headed northward like a straight spear that Jagang had hurled toward the New World.
From the crest of the hill they looked down at the abandoned thoroughfare, which had been carved by great armies, but not in recent years. The road looked weathered and overgrown.
Nathan turned to Nicci. “When you were Death’s Mistress, did any of your expeditions come this far south?”
She shook her head. “Jagang did not consider this wilderness to be worth the effort, although from his ancient maps, we knew there were once great cities and trading centers beyond the Phantom Coast.”
“This road may have been a built by another emperor.” Nathan smiled. “The history of the Old World is full of them. Have you heard of Emperor Kurgan? The warlord they called Iron Fang?”
They descended to the wide, empty road. Nicci raised an eyebrow. “I remember some of the history I learned in the Palace of the Prophets, but I’m not familiar with his name. Was this Iron Fang a ruler of any significance?”
“I spent a thousand years reading history, dear Sorceress, and countless rulers have laid claim to historical significance, but Emperor Kurgan might well have been the most infamous ruler since the time of the wizard wars. At least according to his chroniclers. I’m surprised you didn’t know of him.”
“Jagang preferred that I help him make history, not ruminate about it,” Nicci said. She had certainly made history when she killed Jagang herself, without fanfare, without spectacle, exactly as Richard had asked.
“We have a long walk ahead of us, so plenty of time for the tale.” Nathan strolled ahead, following the great empty road, which took them in the general direction they wished to go. “Fifteen centuries ago, Emperor Kurgan conquered much of the Old World and the vast lands to the south.” He quirked a smile at Bannon as the young man walked on the weed-overgrown paving stones. “Not long ago at all, only five hundred years before I was born.”
“Only five hundred years?” Bannon seemed unable to grasp that span of time.
“Kurgan was brutal and ruthless, but he earned the name Iron Fang mostly because of his affectation. He had his left canine tooth replaced.” Nathan opened his mouth and tapped the corresponding tooth with a fingertip. “Replaced it with a long iron point. I have no doubt that it made him look fearsome, although I can’t imagine how it was possible for him to eat with the thing in his mouth.” He snorted. “And he had to replace it regularly, due to rust.”
“Doesn’t sound very terrifying to me,” Nicci said.
“Oh, he was fearsome and powerful enough. Iron Fang’s relentless armies overwhelmed land after land, conscripting all available young fighters, which increased his army … and thereby helped him conquer more lands and conscript more fighters. It was an unstoppable flood.
“But, as I’m afraid dear Richard is now beginning to realize, conquering territory is one thing, while administering it is quite another. Kurgan’s downfall was that he actually believed the praise heaped upon him by the minstrels and criers, when as far as I can tell, Iron Fang’s true genius was his main military commander, General Utros.”
“Even an emperor needs excellent military commanders to conquer and hold so many lands,” Nicci said.
Nathan waxed poetic. “General Utros was the strategist who led Kurgan’s armies to victory after victory. Utros seized all the territory of the Old World in the name of Emperor Kurgan.” Walking along the easy path of the ancient imperial road, he kept glancing to the foothills in the east, in the supposed direction of Kol Adair. “And once Utros was gone, Iron Fang simply could not function without his general.”
“What happened to Utros?” Bannon asked. “Was he defeated or killed?”
“Oddly enough, that is not entirely certain, but I have my ideas. The story is far more complicated than a list of military campaigns. You see, Emperor Kurgan had married a beautiful queen from one of the largest lands he seized. Her name was Majel. Some say she was a sorceress, because her beauty was indeed bewitching.” He gave Nicci a wry smile. “Perhaps like our own sorceress.”
She frowned at him.
He continued his story. “Majel’s beauty was so entrancing that General Utros was put under its spell. She found him to be a handsome man, not to mention brave and powerful—certainly he was a mate superior to Iron Fang himself, who might not have been as awe-inspiring as his propaganda would suggest.” He gave a dismissive wave of his hand. “Or maybe there was nothing magic about it at all. It could just be that Empress Majel and General Utros fell in love. It’s clear to me, and to many historical scholars, that Utros intended to conquer the world, then overthrow Kurgan and take Majel for his own.”
“What happened then?” Bannon asked.
Nathan stopped at a shoulder-high pinnacle of weathered rock that had been erected at the side of the road, as a mile marker, although the carved letters had long since worn away. He removed his life book, opened to his map, and glanced at the foothills, trying to orient himself. None of the foundation rocks gave any hint about the chilling prophecy or Kol Adair, though. Nicci was almost relieved.…